أرشيف التصنيف: English

Free-agent first baseman Eric Hosmer has agreed to a deal with the Padres, according to multiple reports. Hosmer’s deal is for eight years, with an opt-out clause after five years, according to the MLB Network.

Hosmer is one of four core Royals players, along with Mike Moustakas, Lorenzo Cain and Alcides Escobar, who hit free agency for the first time this year. They arrived in Kansas City in 2011 as a bunch of 20-somethings and keyed the team’s run to consecutive World Series, including a championship in 2015.

Hosmer, an All-Star first baseman in 2016 who has won two Gold Glove awards, is coming off his third straight season with at least 18 home runs and 93 RBIs. He finished with season totals of 25 home runs and 94 RBIs and hit a career-best .318 in 2017.

The 28-year-old Hosmer has a .284 average with 127 home runs and 566 RBIs in 1,048 games in his six-year major league career.

Sources told The Mirror that Karen’t participation in the next season is ‘in doubt’, but Kevin’s future on the show remains in tact.

They told the paper: ‘Karen’s participation next series is in doubt. But Kevin is safe. He is loved by everyone.’

Pounding the pavement: As the night went on, Karen chatted away to another pal as they went in search of their next move

All smiles: Karen clutched onto a white object as she chatted away to her friend

They added: ‘Feelings are mixed on Karen. They don’t want the show to be associated with the ­negative publicity generated by her actions.’

However, sources told The Sun that BBC bosses may have saved Karen in last minute talks despite the impeding marital problems after choosing to axe veteran pro Brendan Cole earlier in the year.

MailOnline have contacted representatives for Strictly Come Dancing for comment.

Out on the town: Karen wandered the streets flanked by her pals

‘Holding the fort’: Reports of the demise of their marriage comes after Karen flaunted her wedding ring as she declared she was to dance with her partner during the Kevin and Karen Live tour

Reports of the demise of Karen and Kevin’s marriage come after she flaunted her wedding ring, firmly back on her left hand, as she declared she was to dance with her partner during the upcoming Kevin and Karen Livetour in the social media post.

On Oct. 22, 2015, 18 months after winning a silver medal in freestyle skiing at the Sochi Olympics, Gus Kenworthy tweeted “I am gay.” In a coming-out story in ESPN the Magazine, Kenworthy described one of the most stressful moments in his sports career: the time he found his “stomach twisting into knots” when a TV producer at the X Games asked him if he had a girlfriend in the crowd. Kenworthy told ESPN the Magazine’s Alyssa Roenigk that he was both stressed out by the question and saddened by the fact that the cameras wouldn’t focus on his boyfriend. “I’ve never had a TV boyfriend,” he said. “That’s actually something I want so bad—a TV boyfriend.”

At the Pyeonchang Games, Kenworthy has that TV boyfriend. On Saturday night, NBC showed the skier sharing a brief kiss with his partner Matthew Wilkas before taking his first qualifying run in the freestyle skiing event. NBC didn’t make a big to do about the peck on the lips. Announcer Luke Van Valin simply identified Wilkas as the Olympian’s boyfriend, adding, “Just a tremendous amount of support coming to Gus Kenworthy.”

Earlier on Saturday, Kenworthy posted a photo of himself with Wilkas on Instagram, writing that he felt “very lucky to have him, my family, my agent and some amazing friends here in Korea cheering me on.”

Also among Kenworthy’s supporters at these Olympics is out figure skater Adam Rippon, who the skier smooched on the cheek earlier in the games.

Rippon and Kenworthy have both criticized Vice President Mike Pence, the head of the U.S. delegation to the Winter Games, for his reactionary stances on LGBTQ issues.

Kenworthy, who earlier this week broke his right thumb and suffered a hematoma on his left hip, managed to qualify for the freestyle skiing finals, which will be televised by NBC later on Saturday night.* After his second qualifying run, NBC showed Kenworthy’s TV boyfriend in the crowd. Wilkas was holding a rainbow flag that said, “WE LOVE U GUS!”

Correction, Feb. 17, 2018: This post originally misstated the dates of the freestyle skiing qualification round and finals. Both events are scheduled for Sunday Feb. 18 in Korea and will be broadcast on Saturday Feb. 17 in the United States.

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Gus Kenworthy Spent the Last Olympics Closeted. This Time He Kissed His Boyfriend on NBC.

LOS ANGELES — The participants in the NBA All-Star Slam Dunk Contest used wardrobe changes and the art of imitation throughout their performances. While Utah Jazz rookie Donovan Mitchell was no exception, his talent proved that he didn’t need all the flash and flair.

Mitchell won the glamour event during All-Star Saturday night by wearing a Vince Carter throwback jersey and executing a reverse, spinning 360-degree windmill dunk. After the impressive feat, Mitchell found the nearest camera and imitated Carter’s “It’s over” bluster and gesture from the 2000 contest the former Raptors great won going away. Mitchell earned a 48 score for the dunk, defeating Cleveland Cavaliers forward Larry Nance Jr. in the finals.

“I wanted it so badly,” Mitchell said. “This is one of my favorite events of All-Star Weekend.

“I haven’t made that dunk in half a year. I tried it two night ago, didn’t make it. Tried it this morning, didn’t make it. So to make it tonight, I was excited.”

Mitchell’s imagination came in handy, which was evident in his performance. When asked how he prepared for the event, he said he’s been looking forward to a night like this since childhood.

“Believe it or not, I’ve been preparing for this since I was a kid,” Mitchell said. “I didn’t know I was gonna be able to jump this high, so I added some new tricks.”

In the first round, Nance, the son of the inaugural slam dunk champion, showed a touch of showmanship with a nod to his past. Nance incorporated the entertainers Quick Change, who, as their name suggests, speedily change clothes to the delight of fans across NBA arenas.

Nance, shrouded inside a four-side curtain, emerged a few moments later in his father’s Phoenix Suns throwbacks — short shorts and high socks included. Then, Nance pulled off a replica of his father’s winning dunk from 1984’s event, but needed two attempts, which might have resulted in his 44 score.

However, Nance came up with a complete original idea in the finals — a double-alley oop dunk. Nance threw the ball off the glass, caught it and with a quick motion, tossed it once more but slamming the ball home. The dunk produced a perfect score of 50, but was not enough to take down Mitchell.

Dallas Mavericks rookie Dennis Smith Jr. earned the first 50 of the night with a between-the-legs, 360-degree dunk for but did not advance out of the first round. Also, former DeMatha standout Victor Oladipo of the Indiana Pacers couldn’t impress the celebrity judges, failing in the opening round largely because he missed all three attempts for his first dunk.

There’s a serial killer on the loose — and the deadly enemy is volatility.

As the stock markets showed recently, volatility is back, with stomach-churning extreme highs and lows not seen since the Great Depression, according to analysts.

Volatility is the new market nemesis to the $27 trillion US retirement industry. And the sell-offs are contributing to fear in those nearing their golden years. “It certainly got people’s attention,” said Timothy Speiss at EisnerAmper Wealth Planning. “We’re going to have to see if the markets remain this choppy, with a lot of volatility.”

Some say signs already point in that direction. “With the market closing at the low end of the day’s range, expect more gyrations in the days and weeks to come,” said Greg McBride, chief financial analyst at Bankrate.com, looking at one recent session in which the Dow closed down more than 1,000 points.

Fed meddling, the rise of high-speed algorithmic traders and the introduction of exotic products like risk-parity funds that the average investor can barely comprehend have only intensified the present danger, seasoned pros are warning.

The volatility is a reminder of this dark new normal, and the threat to your 401(k) retirement savings.

“The fear of rising interest rates, a more aggressive Fed, automated speed traders and a possibly overheating economy led to the volatility,” financial adviser Edward Kohlhepp told The Post. Although additional bogeymen are blamed for the recent rout, analysts already detect a potentially disturbing pattern — the reappearance of over-the-top volatility.

Take just the week of Feb. 4. On Monday alone, the Dow lost almost 1,600 points, then quickly recovered some losses, only to close down 1,175.21 points, or 4.6 percent, to 24,345.75. On the following day, the Dow rebounded, posting a 567 point gain, and then on Wednesday it closed down a mere 19 points. The following day, however, the bears were back. The Dow took another nauseating nosedive, plunging more than 1,000 points.

The market rout was now in a technical “correction,” meaning it had lost 10 percent as measured against the S&P 500 since Jan. 26.

“Those closer to retirement should not be aggressively invested,” Kohlhepp said. “They should have a plan that migrates them toward a more conservative, less risky, portfolio.”

The recent carnage just cast a spotlight on the emergent reality of extreme movements in volatility.

One researcher traces this to the decade that ended in 2000, when the S&P 500 had already expanded by a record 417 percent.

This extraordinary high was followed by three years of stock market declines of 10 percent, 13 percent and 23.4 percent, respectively. Three consecutive years of declines had only previously happened during the Great Depression and World War II, according to the researchers at Walser Wealth.

And since late 2008, the markets again have risen to new highs, which have in turn made the markets threateningly volatile.

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Despite its price plunge, some diehard bitcoin aficionados still say the beleaguered cryptocurrency could hit six figures by year’s end.

Tone Vays, a New York-based cryptocurrency analyst and blockchain consultant, has been among those arguing that the wild swings in bitcoin value since its debut in 2009 at less than a penny could mean that an even greater upswing may be possible this year.

“Right now I think that bitcoin should still go down in price, but it will recover,” says Vays. “$100K this year is possible, but that’s very high. I put the current fair value at $25,000.”

Vays decided to bill his clients at 0.1 bitcoin per hour last year when the price hit $1,200, and he says he is not looking back, despite the more than 50 percent hourly pay cut he has taken this year.

Fellow bitcoin disciple Ronnie Moas, for his part, is more measured in his optimism.

“I do not like crypto at $500 billion [market cap] as I did at $100 billion, but I do like it more at $500 billion than I did at $800 billion last month,” said Moas, founder of Standpoint Research, who adds he has raised his 2018 price target to $28,000 from the $20,000 he forecast in November.

“I don’t know how anybody could set and justify a price target that high for this year,” he says of the speculation of a six-figure bitcoin price tag in the near future.

Offering a different outlook is James Rickards, strategic director at Meraglim, a financial analytics firm.

“I think bitcoin is going to go to $200,” he predicts, without offering a timeframe. “The only residual use is for criminals, and it will keep grinding down.”

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Students in pursuit of their dreams often rely on hard work and student loans to get them through the lean years, when they have to pay for college and living expenses.

But some New York Unversity students are paying for their tuition while avoiding the drudgery of waiting on tables in Greenwich Village.

Take Konig Chen, for example. The 22-year-old, who was raised in Brazil and went to high school in Taiwan, says he has used the proceeds of his bitcoin investments to pay for a full four-year course of study at the school.

Like many cryptocurrency investors, Chen started out small, betting around $5,000 on the currency in February 2017, when it was fetching around $1,200. Adding $80,000 over the summer to his investment as the currency started to skyrocket, by the end of last year his wallet was worth enough for him to take out $200,000.

“I started out as an equity investor,” says Chen, recounting how he met up with Brandon, a fellow NYU student who had developed an algorithm that is supposed to be able to predict the performance of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. He credits Brandon and his algorithm with having made around $300,000 for him over the past year.

Leo Tulchin, a 21-year-old NYU junior, says he met up with Brandon when the two were rooming together in 2016. His friend, who keeps a low profile and insists on going by only his first name, was majoring in neuroscience at the time but has since dropped out to pursue high finance.

“I originally gave Brandon $400, but after it turned to $600 over the next few days, I gave him enough to buy a bitcoin for $1,400,” he recounts.

Tulchin and Brandon have since partnered on a venture called Trace Capital, which manages around $300,000 on behalf of some 15 fellow NYU students and friends and family. He says he and his friend have already received buyout offers for their Trace algorithm, but they are holding firm and spreading out their crypto investments among bitcoin, litecoin, etherium and other assets.

“We like to stay as diversified as possible,” Tulshin says.

“We really believe in this thing,” he adds. “Brandon and I are working together to incorporate into a cryptocurrency hedge fund. For now, we’re not taking a piece of things but just helping out friends and family.”

“There’s been a pretty good groundswell of enthusiasm, and not just from young people,” he adds.

Tulchin went to college at first to study media and writing, but admits that the heady financial experience of the past year may have changed all that. “I like trading,” he says. “But on the other hand, I’m 21 years old, and I really have no idea what I want to do.”

Chen, for his part, went to NYU to study hospitality and leisure management.

“The trend is that bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies will go up for now, but I don’t plan to be around when it goes down,” he says. “After making all this money I can’t see myself being the manager of a hotel. My plan is to cash out and buy a resort property.”